DINA GREEN, formerly manager of communications for the National Association of State Aviation Officials, has joined the National Aircraft Resale Association to oversee communications. Green joined NASAO in early 2000 to manage special projects, media relations and meeting and convention planning. Before that, she spent five years with the Washington, D.C. law firm of Paul, Hastings, Janofsky and Walker as senior paralegal.
THE FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION'S William J. Hughes Technical center awarded its service operations support contract (SOS 5) to CNSI. Under the contract, which has an estimated value of $178 million over seven years, CNSI will provide services to support FAA's National Airspace System. CNSI will team with Atlantic Science and Technology Corporation to work on such projects as the En Route Air Route Traffic Control Center, terminal area air traffic control systems, and search and beacon radar and surveillance systems.
THOMAS C. FITZSIMMONS was appointed assistant to the chief financial officer at PrivatAir. He will be responsible for financial policies and controls for the company. Fitzsimmons has more than 20 years of experience in senior management.
RAYTHEON COMPANY'S former Aircraft Integration Systems unit, headquartered in Greenville, Texas, was integrated into L-3 Communications Corp. and renamed L-3 Communications Integrated Systems, company executives said last week (BA, Jan. 21/40). The companies announced in January that L-3 would buy AIS from Raytheon for $1.13 billion in cash. AIS manufactures intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance equipment for aircraft.
THE RECESSION appears to be over and "by the end of this year we'll see four percent growth in the U.S.," a veteran economist told FAA's Aviation Forecast Conference last week. Nariman Beravetch, chief economist of DRI-WEFA, said that while the recession was relatively mild and short-lived by traditional standards, it was "one of the worst profit recessions" since the 1930s.
JET AVIATION opened a new aircraft management services facility in Hong Kong. Led by Director of Operations, Iris Riesen, the facility is the company's second location in Asia. Jet Aviation will manage a Hong Kong-based Bombardier Global Express at the new facility. To offer charter services on the aircraft, Jet Aviation has applied for an air operator's certificate from the Civil Aviation Department of Hong Kong.
FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION reports that a King Air 90 landing at the Reno, Nev. Airport made it to the hangar without using the runway. FAA said the Regent Air Service air taxi aircraft, N948CC, was on the back course approach to Runway 34L "when ATC lost contact with the aircraft. The aircraft was subsequently found on top of a hangar with substantial damage. The pilot and five pax all sustained minor injuries. Other circumstances are unknown at this time." The incident occurred March 14.
Operators of Bombardier CRJ700 regional jets were ordered by FAA last week to increase normal mission fuel requirements by 3,000 pounds and to limit operation of the aircraft to within 60 minutes of a suitable alternative airport. The emergency airworthiness directive follows similar action by Transport Canada because of "reports of uncommanded fuel transfer between the wing fuel tanks and the center fuel tank.
TOM MEKIS was named director of aircraft sales at Piedmont Hawthorne. He will be responsible for day-to-day operations of the aircraft and airline sales divisions for Piedmont's Winston-Salem, N.C. and Leesburg, Va. locations. Mekis was previously general manager and manager of aircraft sales at Leesburg.
RANDY GROOM was named senior vice president at Piedmont Hawthorne. He will be the chief operating officer for the aircraft sales division as well as for the maintenance, repair and overhaul divisions. Groom has worked at Piedmont for 16 years.
REGIONAL AIRCRAFT MANUFACTURERS are frustrated with a decision by the Chinese government to withhold import licenses for aircraft previously ordered by Chinese carriers. The delay in issuing the import licenses is apparently due to a policy shift by senior Chinese officials who have decided their country should be a participant in building regional jets and not just an aircraft importer.
The so-far fruitless effort to recruit a chief operating officer (COO) to head FAA's new air traffic control organization may be put on hold until Jane Garvey's successor as FAA Administrator is in place, Garvey indicated last week.
The general aviation fleet will grow at an average rate of just 0.3 percent over the next 12 years, FAA said last week, with almost all the growth accounted for by high-end business and corporate aircraft.
DARRELL RICHARDSON was promoted to the newly created position of president and CEO of PACE Airlines at Piedmont Hawthorne. He was most recently executive vice president at Piedmont.
SEN. JAMES INHOFE (R-Okla.), as expected, last week introduced S.2007, the General Aviation Industry Reparations Act of 2002. Inhofe's bill is identical to H.R.3347, which was approved by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee last month. If enacted, the measures would set aside $3 billion for general aviation loan guarantees and provide $2.5 billion in general aviation grants for firms and individuals affected by the Sept.
THE NATIONAL AERONAUTIC ASSOCIATION'S 2001 Robert J. Collier Trophy will go to the Integrated Lift Fan Propulsion System that Pratt&Whitney and Rolls-Royce will build for Joint Strike Fighter prime contractor Lockheed Martin. The system is designed for the short takeoff/vertical landing version of the JSF.
MICHAEL P. FIELD was named chief of Pratt&Whitney's commercial engines marketing and sales division. He will be responsible for marketing and sales of new equipment and aftermarket service. Field was most recently senior vice president, sales and customer support, at International Aero Engines.
American Eagle Airlines is facing a $1 million civil penalty, proposed by FAA for what the agency said was a violation of the carrier's maintenance standards. FAA said American Eagle operated nine aircraft on 514 flights between May 1 and Aug. 24, 1998, when they were not in compliance with the company's oil consumption monitoring program. Federal officials said that program requires daily engine oil level checks for Saab 340Bs and the company did not follow the procedures.
Bombardier signed an agreement with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) Corp. under which the Canadian manufacturer will have a major presence at the three IMS races each year, as well as the 15 Indy Racing League races across the country.
FAIRCHILD DORNIER plans to proceed with a rollout ceremony for its 728JET this Thursday, but the company's primary focus is finding a strategic partner to help provide the financial strength, and possibly infrastructure, it needs to bring its aircraft programs to market. The company has been hit hard by post-9/11 fallout among its airline customers. See article below.
The Federal Aviation Administration is on track to release a proposal in April that is expected to reduce aircraft separation minimums between flight levels 290 and 410 over domestic airspace by December 2004. The move to push for full domestic reduced vertical separation minimums (DRVSM) implementation comes despite the wishes of general aviation community leaders, who hoped to convince the agency to limit reduced domestic vertical separation to between FL350 and FL390 initially and gradually widen the range to between FL290 and FL410.
SERGUEI V. KOUZMINE was appointed to the board of directors for Mercury Air Group. He is the managing general partner at Russian Investment Solutions and also the president of R.I.F.: Research, Investment, Finance, a Russian investment company. "Serguei's addition to the board of directors will enhance our development of new markets and we look forward to his input in our strategic efforts to enhance shareholder value," said Joseph A. Czyzyk, Mercury president and CEO.
DOUG SMITH, the veteran aircraft marketing and sales executive, was promoted to regional vice president, sales for the eastern U.S. for Bombardier Aerospace, Business Aircraft. Smith, who is based in White Plains, N.Y., is responsible for directing and managing the six sales directors in the Eastern Region who are selling the entire Bombardier line of Learjet, Challenger and Global Express business jets. Smith, who will report to Bill Monroe, senior vice president of sales for the U.S., joined Bombardier in 1998.
The Federal Aviation Administration awarded a $26 million follow-on contract to Harris Corporation to maintain and support a weather tracking system, the Weather and Radar Processor (WARP), Harris said last week. WARP analyzes weather information from various sources and provides consolidated weather data to meteorologists at FAA en route centers.
Orange County, Calif., voters passed a measure rezoning the proposed El Toro airport into parkland, defeated a county board supervisor who backed the airport and were apprised last week of Navy expectations to sell the land for other uses.
